Editorial: Let them eat satellites
Story Highlights
- The loss of its people to migration is now Albania’s top crisis. And the government needs to act immediately to mitigate the problem instead of the usual attention diversion stories of “Albanian satellites” launched into space.
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The loss of its people to migration is now Albania’s top crisis. And the government needs to act immediately to mitigate the problem instead of the usual attention diversion stories of “Albanian satellites” launched into space.
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
“We can’t find bakers to make bread, they are all leaving the country,” says one concerned business owner. “Seriously, it’s a big problem.”
Albanians’ passion for and dependence on their stable food is well known, so when the massive exodus of workers reaches into their breadbaskets, you know the problem is more serious than ever.
Albanian bakers leaving to work in places like the Czech Republic and Croatia is the latest in a long migration trend for the country’s workers. Those with the right education and skills are quickly learning the benefits of legal migration to where their skills and work are more aptly compensated.
And bakers are not alone. Brain drain is leaving large and medium Albanian businesses missing key experts, lack of basic unskilled labor in the service industry is putting the last nail in the coffin on many small restaurants, cafes and shops -- which were already hit hard by the pandemic.
It’s not one particular group that is leaving -- migration cuts across the society, with one in four Albanians leaving the country in the past 12 years -- 700,000 people -- legally, to gain EU residency, as pointed out in a recent report . Add to that the number of irregular migrants and those going to North America and other places, and that number is even higher.
In response to this issue, all we get from the Albanian government is a shrug of shoulders and a reminder that Albania can’t close its borders like the communist regime did to keep its people in.
That cynical reply is insulting. Yes, this is a problem faced by all countries in the former communist bloc, but the government should not raise its hands in defeat but work instead on strategies to remedy the problem.
That strategy should include tangible things that can be felt immediately in addition to the results of long term reforms that might become valid when only the old and those few unable or unwilling to leave remain in the country.
Instead of a steady diet of propaganda and attention diversion -- like the ridiculous launch of “Albanian satellites” into space -- to show how advanced the country has become under the current leadership, we need solutions like providing incentives for people to stay.
Importing workers and people from Asia and Africa is not one of those solutions. As the now famous Bangladeshi experiment showed, they won’t stay, they aren’t as reliable as local workers and Albania’s proximity to wealthy EU countries means they too could follow the migration route to Europe, simply seeing Albania as a jumping point.
The latest such ridiculous attempts to solve Albania’s worker shortage problem involves the refugees from Afghanistan. With a government obsessed with stories it can sell to the international community -- like the hosting of Afghans in their hour of need -- an applaudable effort indeed -- there is a subtext mentioned several times by Albanian officials that they hope some will stay as they are qualified people that can work in Albania. The Afghan refugees are here temporarily, and they universally want to go to the United States and other developed nations. Even if some stayed behind, it would be a drop in the bucket and likely a bad fit for Albania’s needs.
The priority should be to help keep Albanians home -- through strong incentives. It starts with something that costs nothing -- a government that shows this is its top priority -- in words and actions. There are no easy solutions, but lower taxes that lead to lower prices is a good start.
This crisis has been in the making for decades, but it is now reaching the tipping point. It needs a strategy and effort to solve it. The usual propaganda won’t cut it any longer.
